Astcote's in Northamptonshire, England. It's where I wake up most mornings, again.

Friday, May 22

A Doncaster Delicatessen

If you happen to visit Doncaster then I can heartily recommend a little delicatessen. Possibly called Scicluna Deli, but not necessarily so as there are few visible signs of any consistency. Outside there is one name and on the napkins another!

It is located more or less beneath the Premier Hotel close to the Minster and close to a market place and car park so easy to find. It is also easy to miss as when I was there yesterday I had no idea it was a place where anyone could eat. there were boxes everywhere, spilling outside across the pavement too! I was looking for somewhere to have a quick sandwich and a cup of coffee and wandered past but, finding nothing quickly that wasn't too far away, I walked back and thought I'd look inside, as much out of curiosity as anything else.

The place is quite mad. I did spot, however, two small square tables and some stools at window ledges and on one of them was a cup of what had probably been coffee. Sure enough, when I enquired of one of the friendly staff they said I could have almost any sort of coffee I required. To go with it I could also order virtually anything that they had in store to be prepared as some sort of sandwich, roll or whatever. Now, I have heard of choice but this was ridiculous!

I settled for an innocent-sounding ham and cheese toastie which emerged sometime later as a delightful tasting affair with horse radish flavoured soft cheese spread on smoked ham, smoked with some wood I don't remember now, and contained in some marvellous soft bread that defies description.

It came with half a plate of freshly prepared salad and some chutney that time didn't allow me to sample. I downed the coffee, munched as much as I could of the toastie, paid the very modest few pounds and ran as I was a bit late.

I saw things in the boxes I don't think I've seen anywhere else. Goodness only knows what they all were. A worldwide collection from Pakistan, India but also Italy, Austria, France and Peru. That was all I could quickly recognise as source nations. The food was prepared and served by nice clean-looking ladies in black and white uniforms who spoke a pretty broad local accent and looked like people's aunties, except for one who could have been that girl at the wedding you fancy but never get a chance to talk to.

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About Me

Still crazy after all these years but respectable when I need to be. Lecturing in web design pays the rent and available for hire to entertain staff who'd like to know about e-learning or using web tools in education. I also do Staff ICT skills assessment and training and graphic and web design for private clients.